ConAgra Foods/Banquet Pot Pies Recalled Due to Salmonella Outbreak

On October 9, 2007, ConAgra announced that it had been contacted by state health officials regarding concerns that some of its poultry pot pies (turkey and chicken) may have been linked to an outbreak of salmonella.

Earlier this week the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a public health safety alert, warning consumers not to eat certain ConAgra manufactured products, stating that the CDC had linked the pot pies to a Salmonella outbreak which had sickened 139 individuals in 30 states. In cooperation with the USDA, ConAgra Foods directed retailers to remove the pot pies from the shelves, suspended all pot pie production in its Marshall, MO plant, advised consumers not to eat the products and to discard them while an investigation was being conducted.

The recalled frozen pot pies are labeled with establishment number "P-9" or "Est. 1059" printed on the side of the package. These products may still be in consumers' freezers due to the long product shelf life. Consumers should check their freezers for the recalled pot pies.

ConAgra Foods voluntarily recalled all varieties of Banquet brand frozen pot pies and all varieties of store brand frozen pot pies sold under the following names:

Albertson's
Hill Country Fare (sold at HEB)
Food Lion
Great Value (sold at Wal-Mart)
Kirkwood (sold at Aldi)
Kroger
Meijer
Western Family

The acute symptoms of salmonella gastroenteritis include the sudden onset of nausea, abdominal cramping, and bloody diarrhea with mucous. The onset of symptoms usually occurs within 6 to 72 hours after the ingestion of the bacteria. There is no real cure for a Salmonella infection (or salmonellosis), except treatment of the symptoms. Fortunately, for most strains of Salmonella, the fatality rate is less than one percent.

Salmonella infections usually resolve in five to seven days, and many times require no treatment, unless the patient becomes severely dehydrated or the infection spreads from the intestines. Persons with severe diarrhea may require rehydration, often with intravenous fluids. Treatment with antibiotics is not usually necessary, unless the infection spreads from the intestines, or otherwise persists, in which case the infection can be treated with ampicillin, gentamicin, trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole, or ciprofloxacin. Some Salmonella bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, however, and this has occurred possibly as a result of the use of antibiotics to promote the growth of feed animals.

If you or someone in your family consumed ConAgra pot pies and became seriously ill with salmonella, please contact us using the form below.